Garden plants to prune in November or run risk of serious diseases

Pruning serves multiple purposes including shaping and training plants, enhancing their health and extending their flowering period.

While pruning itself isn't complex, nailing the timing is "crucial" for plants to flourish throughout the year. For fruit trees like free-standing apple and pear trees, winter is the prime time for pruning to maintain productivity and manage size, as the (RHS) states.

Fruit trees

The RHS advises: "Start by removing any dead, diseased and damaged shoots and branches, then carry out the following steps. "Remove crossing shoots that are rubbing together. Keep the better-placed, outward-facing one, unless it's badly damaged. Prune out strong shoots growing towards the centre. You can leave weaker shoots unpruned. Look for any downward-growing branches low on the tree that receive little light and could cause an obstruction."

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"Prune to a more upward-growing branch or back to the main trunk." should also trim last year's growth on each main branch by about a quarter to a third, cutting just above an outward-facing bud, reports .

Bush roses

When it comes to bush roses, some types may need earlier pruning than November, but it can be key in "preventing diseases," says Hannah Towson, assistant manager at Parkers Garden Centre Mottram. She suggests on J Parkers TikTok page: "Prune roses between November and late February, maybe March."

Garden experts are encouraging a bit of tough love when caring for plants, with one saying: "Just when it's dormant and before it grows any new buds. Assess whether there are any dead branches, any diseased branches or any damaged ones, and remove these straight away."

They added: "This will prevent further dieback. Another thing to bear in mind is any crossing branches because these may become damaged as they grow later on."

Blackcurrants

In the discussion about Blackcurrants, they pointed out that while they are a breeze to cultivate and yield tasty fruit come summer with minimal effort, pruning is key to keeping them tidy and boosting their bounty. The RHS instructs that the prime time for giving blackcurrants a trim is during their dormant period from November through February, advising for those who've just bought the plants: "For newly bought blackcurrants if planted while dormant, prune these straight after planting.

"Be brave and cut all the stems down to 2.5cm above soil level. This may seem drastic and means you won't get fruit in the first year, but it will give you a better plant in the long term, encouraging more stems to sprout from the base."

For youthful plants in their initial years, a different approach is recommended: "In the first three years after planting, if growth is strong, give young blackcurrant bushes just a light prune in autumn or winter to remove any weak or low-lying shoots." However, should the growth be less vigorous: "But if growth is weak, prune hard, cutting at least half the shoots down to the base, to stimulate more new stems to grow."